County football: Games of the Week

Thursday

Alvarez (3-6, 1-5) at Aptos (6-3, 5-1), 7:30 p.m. >> The Mariners, winner of six straight Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League titles before joining the Monterey Bay League this season, have a chance to lock up sole possession of second place in the MBL’s Gabilan Division with a win. Lose, and the Mariners share second with Palma (6-4, 5-2). Alvarez’s offense has been held to seven points or less four times. The snapped out of a funk last week by beating North Salinas 26-14. Mariners running back Marcos Reyes has more than 1,000 yards rushing.

Gilroy (9-0, 5-0) at Watsonville (6-3, 3-2), 7:30 p.m. >> The Wildcatz can tie Christopher (8-2, 4-2) for third place in the MBL Pacific Division if they knock off the Mustangs, who are hoping to win the division title outright rather than share it with Alisal (6-4, 5-1). Gilroy’s Joseph Barnes, a 5-foot-8, 175-pound junior, has back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Harbor (1-8, 0-5) at Santa Cruz (4-5, 4-1), 7:30 p.m. >> The Cardinals, who have outscored the Pirates 111-0 in their past two meetings, can win the Mission Trail Coastal Division title with a win. It would be their first league title since 1993. If Santa Cruz wins and St. Francis loses, the Cardinals will have the title outright. An SC win would also tie the lifetime series 24-24-1 and qualify the Cardinals for the CCS playoffs for the first time since 2007, when coach Bubba Trumbull led his team to the CCS title in his first season as coach.

Friday

Soquel (4-5, 2-3) vs. St. Francis (7-2, 4-1) at Watsonville High, 7:30 p.m. >> The Sharks need to win and hope for Santa Cruz to lose to Harbor if they’re to win the league title and secure the MTAL-C’s sole automatic postseason berth. A Knights’ win would give Brad Tompkins his most wins in a season in his four years as coach. St. Francis has allow more than 21 points on defense just once this season and that was in a win over Gonzales. The Sharks have posted three shutouts.

Saturday

Merced (8-1, 4-1) at Cabrillo College (2-7, 1-4), 6 p.m. >> An upset over the Golden Coast Conference co-leader and state’s No. 19 ranked team would give Cabrillo back-to-back wins for the first time since 2013. Cabrillo is 0-3 against the Blue Devils since last beating them in 2009. Terrence Smith finished with 23 carries for 121 yards to eclipse the 1,000 yard rushing mark on the season. He has 181 carries for 1,054 yards and eight touchdowns. Cabrillo’s Travis Schuhe, the conference’s leader in average tackles per game (13), finished with 10 stops in last week’s win over Gavilan. Teammate Shaq Floyd has a conference-leading seven interceptions.